NordenBladet – As technology giants like Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (formerly Facebook) prepare to report their quarterly earnings, artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to once again be a prominent topic of discussion. In the previous quarter, these companies garnered attention for their AI initiatives, resulting in stock price increases based on the promise of future earnings. However, investors are now looking for concrete evidence of the impact of AI on the companies’ profits and operations.
Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are set to reveal their financial results for this quarter and provide updates on their AI strategies. The first half of 2023 witnessed a surge in interest surrounding AI, partly sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in November. Microsoft and Alphabet have actively explored ways to revolutionize search through AI technology, and their strong focus on AI during previous earnings calls generated excitement in the market.
AI’s significance was further emphasized when Nvidia, a chipmaker, highlighted its potential to significantly boost earnings for the next quarter beyond initial expectations. This led to a rally in tech stocks, with AI becoming a prevalent theme in research notes, and even companies like Coca-Cola expressing interest in leveraging AI.
Market experts believe that enthusiasm for AI will continue to grow in the coming years, and investors are looking forward to seeing how companies attribute their growth to AI initiatives. For instance, Microsoft’s AI innovations have prompted Goldman Sachs to increase the tech giant’s price target. However, concerns persist over whether technology stocks have been overvalued amid the AI craze, as investors have shown a willingness to sell tech stocks if earnings reports fail to meet expectations.
AI remains a central topic as technology companies announce their quarterly earnings, and investors are eager to see tangible results from the promises made earlier. The market outlook for AI is positive, but companies will need to demonstrate the real impact of AI on their bottom line to maintain investor confidence.
NordenBladet – In a late-night session, the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, passed a law tied to a vote of confidence in the government, leading to significant tax reforms. The legislation received support from 58 members, while 33 opposed it.
Effective from 2024, the new law eliminates certain tax breaks for individuals, including additional tax-free income for child and spousal support, as well as the deduction of mortgage interest. In addition, starting in 2025, both individual and corporate income tax rates will rise by two percentage points, reaching 22 percent. This change will eliminate the preferential 14 percent tax rate on distributed corporate profits and the 7 percent withholding tax on dividends paid to individuals.
Originally, the draft legislation proposed increasing the advance payment rate for credit institutions from 14 percent to 22 percent. However, the government modified the document before the second reading, reducing the increase to 18 percent.
Furthermore, beginning in 2025, the law replaces the regressive tax-free income system with a flat annual tax-free income of 8,400 euros or 700 euros per month. Retirees will be exempt from this change, as their tax-free income will align with their average pension.
The initial reading of the measure took place on May 17, with 377 amendments submitted by the deadline. On June 8, the government decided to link a vote of confidence to the adoption of the measure before the second reading, thereby taking on the responsibilities of the lead committee. The proposed amendments to the government’s measure of confidence will not be subjected to a vote.
The Riigikogu’s extraordinary session will continue on Tuesday morning, involving the second and third readings of the bills, as well as several votes of confidence. The session will continue until all agenda items have been addressed.
NordenBladet – A cutting-edge testing facility has recently been launched in the Ülemiste City business area of Tallinn, offering an exceptional environment for the Baltic and Nordic regions to experiment with and assess the effectiveness of emerging technologies. This state-of-the-art facility is inviting both local and international companies to put their new solutions to the test or validate their services within a realistic urban setting.
“The purpose of Ülemiste City that has been developed into a smart business area from scratch within two decades is to become a testing platform for new green urban solutions. As a compact business environment, we can offer testers access to our infrastructure, a community of 16 000 members, different support services and our know-how in development,” said the Chief Innovation Officer of Ülemiste City, Ursel Velve. “The resulting synergy between science and business and the smart implementation of new sustainable technologies is what makes Ülemiste the most unique environment in the Nordic region for different testing purposes – the TestCity.”
According to Ursel Velve, Ülemiste City invests in creating an ecosystem where testing is a natural part of product development and service design, keeping the focus on the green transition as well as the health and smart city innovation. She says that Ülemiste City is different from other North-European testing environments because of its more significant and more versatile selection of services supported by the actual urban environment in a limited area functioning as a mini-city model.
“Ülemiste Test City, Tallinn and Estonia offer a physical testing environment at the level of a business campus, city as well as a compact small state, supported by data and modern technologies necessary for making leadership decisions as well as talents interested in technology who can contribute to the value chain from the beginning till the end,” said Ursel Velve. She added that Test City’s value also lies in bringing together businesses of different sizes and areas of activity, facilitating the creation of new services and business models.
Several services have undergone a testing process within the framework of the Test City concept. Logistics firm DPD recently tested package delivery with Clevon’s robot courier CLEVON 1. Auvetech Modern Mobility has also tested their self-driving demand-based transportation service on the campus, Fyma its artificial intelligence-based mobility data solution, R8 Technologies its artificial intelligence-based energy management of buildings, Kone Insight its building usage statistics service, Ringo its reusable food packaging service and Active Health its health management platform.
Skeleton Technologies is expanding its test lab in Ülemiste Test City. The company’s board member Ants Vill said they would like to test Skeleton’s technologies more widely in Estonia. “We highly value the level of local engineering, which is extremely competitive in the global context today, and we wish that there would be more engineering professionals in Estonia to enable us to create more value through the development and implementation of deep technology to combat global climate change,” he added.
Representative of Enterprise Estonia Joonas Vänto stated that all kinds of test environments, labs or incubators that gather innovation also attract talent. “In terms of location, Ülemiste City is truly great. It is a business district within the city where new technologies could be tested. Estonia increasingly attracts forward-looking international companies which in turn increases the interest of foreign workforce in our opportunities. We see that Estonia in cooperation with the city of Tallinn and Ülemiste City is becoming a talent magnet where people want to work,” he noted.
Ülemiste City (https://www.ulemistecity.ee/en) located in Tallinn’s international traffic junction is the biggest business area in the Baltics developed by Mainor Ülemiste and Technopolis Ülemiste. The City’s 36 hectare-area includes 167 000 square metres of rentable office spaces. The area hosts more than 500 businesses and provides a work, home and living environment for nearly 16 000 people.
Ülemiste City, focused on a research-based and open economy, is having an ever-increasing impact on the entire Estonian economy, having taken up third place in the country’s business areas within the past few years. The total turnover of the 500 companies occupying the business area in 2022 was about 2 billion euros, of which one billion was made up by export.
Ülemiste Test City in numbers:
over 500 enterprises
167 000 m² of office spaces
44 226 m² of green areas
16 000 people working, studying of living in the area – about 15% of staff are from about 70 foreign countries
The annual turnover of the business area’s enterprises is 2 billion euros
Over 50% of Ülemiste City’s enterprises cooperate with research and development institutions; 70% of enterprises develop innovative products and services
More than 1/3 of Estonia’s IT-export is produced in Ülemiste City
9 successful Test City projects
The first health technology accelerator Health Founders within the Baltics
Featured image: The most unique testing environment for new technologies in the Baltic and Nordic regions opened in the Ülemiste City business area in Tallinn is welcoming local and foreign companies to test their new solutions or validate their services in a natural city environment. (Ülemiste City)
NordenBladet – Skeleton Technologies, an Estonian company that specializes in the production of supercapacitors, is building a new factory in Leipzig, Germany. The factory is set to be larger than the company’s current production facility in Dresden and will significantly increase production capacity.
The German government and the state of Saxony are providing over 50 million euros to support the construction of the new factory. The investment is part of Germany’s efforts to achieve its green revolution goals and reduce dependence on Asia and America. The new factory will enable Skeleton Technologies to produce up to 12 million supercapacitors and superbatteries per year and reduce production costs.
The company has recently signed agreements with major companies such as Shell, Honda, Siemens, and CAF, which has increased its demand for production. Skeleton Technologies’ development unit is located in Tallinn, Estonia.
Source: NordenBladet.ee Featured image: Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton Technologies)
NordenBladet – The Reform Party emerged as the clear winner in Estonia’s Riigikogu elections, securing 31.2% of the total votes or 37 mandates. This allows the party to form a coalition of its own choosing.
A total of 615,009 people cast their votes, with 301,495 opting for paper ballots and 313,514 using e-votes. The Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) obtained 16.1% of the votes, resulting in 17 mandates in the Riigikogu. The Center Party secured 15.3% of the votes and 16 mandates, while Eesti 200, a new entrant, secured 13.3% of the votes and 14 mandates. The Social Democratic Party received 9.3% of the votes, giving them nine mandates in the Riigikogu. Isamaa received 8.2% of the votes or eight mandates.
Parties that did not meet the threshold were the Right Party with a 2.4% vote share, the United Left Party of Estonia with 2.3%, and the Greens with one percent.
Top vote getters:
1. KAJA KALLAS 31821
2. MIHHAIL KÕLVART 14598
3. KRISTEN MICHAL 9207
4. URMAS PAET 9152
5. URMAS KLAAS 8067
6. JÜRI RATAS 7675
7. SIIM KALLAS 7397
8. HANNO PEVKUR 6567
9. URMAS KRUUSE 6235
10. MART HELME 6122
11. LAURI LAATS 5982
12. JÜRGEN LIGI 5799
13. HENN PÕLLUAAS 5780
14. JOHANNA-MARIA LEHTME 5260
15. JAAK MADISON 5218
16. MARTIN HELME 4599
17. MIHHAIL STALNUHHIN 4578
18. SIGNE RIISALO 4524
19. URMAS REINSALU 4509
20. ANNELY AKKERMANN 4384
NordenBladet – Trigon Capital’s owner Joakim Helenius and project management department head Rando Tomingas came up with an idea to replace mineral fertilizers in the field with bacteria and fishmeal in animal feed with insect flour, so they marched into Tartu University’s scientists’ door with the proposal, Delfi reports.
Sille Holm, a young doctoral student, was tasked with working on the idea, and her table is now at Trigon Capital as the Chief Scientific Officer, working on developing new biotechnological agricultural products. Trigon Capital is developing five or six start-ups, with two already on their way to a finished product. The company is aiming to become Estonia’s biggest by revolutionizing the global market with their products that can be used for both animal and human consumption. The company’s focus is on insects, specifically flies, as they can produce high-quality protein and fat for animal feed at a low cost.
The global market potential for these products is expected to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, with the world population projected to reach almost ten billion by 2050, which will require more sustainable farming methods. The EU has given permission to use insect flour in animal feed, increasing its market potential, with the global market for animal feed projected to grow to $500 billion. However, the challenge is to produce these products on an industrial scale and to find cost-effective and sustainable ways to produce food for insects.
NordenBladet – Finland has a land border with Russia that is about 1,300 kilometers long. The total length of the planned border fence will be about 200 kilometers. The work started with the removal of trees on both sides of the Imatra border post. First, a three-kilometer test fence section will be erected. The government is testing whether the fence can withstand the load of snow and winter cold, reports Yle.
In March, the construction of the road and the construction of the fence will begin, then the technical monitoring system will be installed. The Imatra fence should be ready by the end of June, the three-kilometer section will cost about six million euros.
A road will be built next to the fence to be built, along which the border guards can move. The road will also be used for maintenance work. In addition, the authorities are building special gates so that wild animals can continue to cross the border.
NordenBladet – A 20-year-old customer, referred to as “Emilie” to protect her identity, purchased a blow dryer hairbrush from the online store Moderneliv.no. She returned the brush for being of poor quality and overpriced at 2499 NOK. When Emilie wrote a negative review of the store on Trustpilot, the company demanded that she pay for the product as a “punishment” for her review, despite already having refunded her, NRK.no reports.
According to Nora Wennberg Gløersen, a consumer lawyer from the Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet), a consumer is entitled to a refund if they have returned the product properly, and companies cannot impose unreasonable conditions on the refund. Consumers are free to share positive and negative experiences on platforms such as Trustpilot without jeopardizing their rights under the sales agreement and consumer protection laws.
Moderneliv demanded that Emilie delete her negative review before it would process her refund, which she agreed to do. However, she later published a new, longer review warning other potential customers about Moderneliv’s unscrupulous behavior. In response, the company emailed Emilie that they had placed a new order on her behalf without her consent, and would bill her for the product since she had violated their agreement by writing a new review.
Emilie felt helpless and frustrated by the situation, and eventually acquiesced to Moderneliv’s demand to delete her second review to cancel the invoice. According to Gløersen, Moderneliv had no right to order products in Emilie’s name without her permission.
This case highlights the importance of consumer rights and the need for companies to act in good faith towards their customers. While companies may not like negative reviews, they cannot use them as a basis for punishing customers. Consumers should feel free to express their opinions and experiences without fear of retribution.
Featured image: Excerpt from the Norwegian online store Moderneliv (NordenBladet)
NordenBladet – Forus International, a company owned by Estonian businessman Urmas Sõurumaa, has acquired the Autolevi car-sharing platform, founded by Tauri Kärson, Simo Sulev, and Robert Sarv in 2013. The purchase price has not been disclosed, and the transaction is subject to approval from the Competition Authority.
Autolevi’s sales revenue last year was €109,300, and it employed two people in the last quarter. Based on the last transaction price, the company’s value was €290,000. Funderbeam investors will be paid €0.56 per unit if the deal is approved. Autolevi’s founder and CEO, Tauri Kärson, said the last price of Autolevi’s instrument on Funderbeam was €0.46, which implies a 21% yield compared to the last market price.
Autolevi has 45,000 users in Estonia, Latvia, and Finland and a selection of over 2,200 vehicles, according to its website. In 2022, users rented out their cars worth more than half a million euros through the platform, and this number is increasing steadily. With the help of Autolevi, car owners can earn more than €1,000 of additional income per month by renting out their vehicles, as cars typically sit idle for 90% of the time while owners must pay for leasing and insurance in full each year.
The car rental market in Estonia is underserved, despite having over 600,000 private cars and 630,000 driver’s license holders. By reducing the number of private cars on the streets, shared car services such as Autolevi can help alleviate issues like pollution, traffic congestion, and parking problems. Autolevi wants to make its service available through an app, in addition to its current web-based platform, with the help of Forus International. In 2017, Autolevi was among the top 20 startup companies in Estonia, and its development has been supported by early angel investors and more than 200 Funderbeam supporters.
Featured image: Urmas Sõõrumaa (NordenBladet)
Source: NordenBladet.ee
NordenBladet – Coop Bank (CPA1T.TL), an Estonian stock-listed company, has challenged a consumer protection decision and taken it to court instead of paying out €17 in interest to a customer. Last year, a Coop Bank customer complained to the Consumer Dispute Committee, stating that they had entered into a children’s savings account agreement with the bank. However, after the agreement was terminated and the bank changed the interest rate to be less favourable to the customer, the bank only transferred the principal sum to the customer, but not the accumulated interest of €17.21.
The bank argued to the Consumer Dispute Committee (Tarbijavaidluste komisjon) that, under its standard terms and conditions, the premium interest accumulated on the children’s savings account and the interest calculated on a daily basis during the validity of the agreement were not payable if the customer terminated the agreement before the deadline. However, the bank did not provide any explanation to the committee as to why it had changed the interest rate. This turned out to be harmful to the depositor, as the monthly interest calculated on the same deposit amount was smaller than before.
The Consumer Dispute Committee ruled that the agreement should be fulfilled based on the principles of good faith and reasonableness, taking into account practices and norms. The committee did not accept the unilateral change of essential terms of the agreement, especially regarding the interest rate. According to the committee, the infringement of the rights of the child (on whose behalf the savings account was opened) compared to other depositors is contrary to the principle of good faith and unacceptable.
The committee also pointed out that the deposited money belonged to the depositor (the child), so the debit of the savings account in favour of the bank for €17.21 was done without legal basis and to the detriment of the depositor’s rights. As a result, the committee decided that the customer’s claim should be satisfied.
According to the Consumer Protection Act, parties have the right to go to court if they disagree with a decision. Coop Bank has exercised this right and decided to appeal the decision of the Consumer Dispute Committee. The bank’s communications manager, Katre Tatrik, stated that Coop Bank does not agree with the committee’s conclusions and wants the court to decide on the validity of the disputed term. As a result of the bank’s decision to go to court, it has not paid out interest to the customer, as the decision of the Consumer Dispute Committee has not yet been enforced.
Photo: Excerpt from the promotional video
Source: NordenBladet.ee
